Caution needed as Australian economy recovers, says economist

Although the Australian economy has performed better than expected in the current economic climate, Chief Economist of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Michael Blythe says Australia still needs to be cautious.

Mr Blythe who will be addressing SEAAOC 2009 in Darwin on the 9-11 of September, says the resources industry was one of the reasons the Australian economy defied the global recession.

“Weak as our economy activity may have been, we have had very good results because of the backlog…from the mining boom and the fact that now the global recovery is driven by China,” he said.

Mr Blythe says caution is needed because financial crises weaken recovery in the early stages.

“We’ve got to look for an economy that…is growing at a slower than usual rate,” he says. “That means we haven’t seen the peak in the unemployment rate just yet.”

Mr Blythe says lower interest rates will be in place for some time.

Capital spending will be of the key decisions impacting the economy as it is currently the weakest.

“Certainly only few months ago there were big concerns the way companies were cancelling, deferring their capital spending plans- something that could have deepened or lengthened the downturn in Australia,” Mr Blythe says.

“Now all of a sudden, there’s a global backdrop…It’s the sort of environment where you may see some of the projects…suddenly look a lot more attractive and they’re potentially big drivers of the Australian economy.”

Mr Blythe hopes his presentation will give delegates a better understanding of the global financial crisis and some idea about the risks that will be experienced over the next year or two.

Other speakers include:
The Hon Paul Henderson MLA, Chief Minister of Northern Territory Government, Mr Alfredo Pires, Secretary of State – Natural Resources of Timor-Leste, Joseph Marushack, President of ConocoPhillips Australia, Sean Kildare, General Manager Darwin of Inpex and Mr. Yoichi Norisugi, Director, Secretary General of Nippon GTL Technology Research Association.

www.seaaoc.com

To arrange a media pass, request more information or arrange speaker interviews at the SEAAOC 2009 conference, please contact:
John Wilson
Informa-IIR
02 9080 4107; 0405751012
John.wilson@informa.com.au

Michael Blythe, Chief Economist of Commonwealth Bank of Australia discusses the economy

Michael Blythe, Chief Economist of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, spoke to us about his thoughts on the outlook for the resources industry in light of the current economic climate, the Australian economy over the next 6-12 months and key oil and gas related decisions that will impact the economy, and his upcoming presentation at this year’s SEAAOC in Darwin.

For more information on SEAAOC 2009, visit www.seaaoc.com or contact Customer Service on +61 2 9080 4090.

Mining the Territory

The newly formed Northern Territory Resources Council will co-partner this year’s Mining the Territory conference, to be held at the new Darwin Convention Centre on 14-15 October.

Mining the Territory, organised by IIR, will review exploration and development opportunities in Northern Australia, which is experiencing phenomenal employment, population and economic growth.

According to Access Economics, employment growth at 2.9% is well above the national rate of 1.6%, population is growing at 1.8% and economic growth at 4.6% per annum is the second highest in the country.

Last year’s inaugural Mining the Territory conference at Sky City was an outstanding success, prompting the move to the larger Darwin Convention Centre.

The Northern Territory Resources Council with Scott Perkins as the new CEO was formed in April in place of the former Minerals Council of the Northern Territory.

It now has a broader role, reflecting the growth of the oil and gas sector in the Territory. A key focus is advocacy for the industry.

More information: www.iir.com.au/territory

Nigel Dique
02 9080 4108
nigel.dique@informa.com.au